Insecurities
by utdfan22
Summary: Lissa's feeling a little self-conscious after marrying the Avatar. After all, the main portion of their romance was a one-sided prank war. Avatar is given the canon name of Robin. Avatar/ Lissa.


**Author's Note: As per my usual tradition, something less serious follows the more depressing Growing Older. I should also point out that I usually write whatever couplings I wound up with in my first playthrough.**

**That said; let's explore Lissa's possible reaction to being married to the Avatar (taking into account her non-Avatar supports and the obvious self-confidence issues therein).**

Lissa twisted her wedding ring nervously about her finger, the young Shepard sitting awkwardly on a crate of healing staffs. She'd come to the supplies tent with Robin to fetch some equipment to make sure they were stocked in case of Risen attacks but he'd been called away to a meeting with Chrom, leaving her to stand there and twist her skirts by herself.

When Lissa first started trying to get Robin's attention, she'd resorted to pranking him (as she still did) as it was only when she really left him no choice that he could squeeze her into his overworked schedule during the war with Plegia that didn't feature a meal. When she thought about it like that, it was a miracle that Robin had ever enjoyed spending time with her, let alone got around to proposing to the Ylissean princess.

What did she actually offer him anyway? She wasn't as strong as Sully or as pretty as Cordelia. She wasn't even the most energetic of the Shepard women, Nowi handily running circles around her during her daily 'games' (torture sessions more like, after that exhaustion it was little wonder so few went back for a second round).

Even when Lissa tried to improve herself and not be so useless, people just sidestepped the issue and shooed her away. Maribelle insisted on only doing what Lissa wanted and made sure to retain control whenever they were together, as if she didn't trust Lissa enough to let her pamper Maribelle for once (given the fact she didn't even know her best friend's favourite tea blend, she was probably right in that regard). Even Chrom had told her to just keep doing what she was doing and people would be fine with it… even though he always pushed himself for as close to perfection as he could manage.

Lissa let out a frustrated little huff as she hopped off of the crate, deciding that such thoughts weren't going to get her anywhere. She was a perfectly charming young woman, her husband was just busy (most tacticians were during wartime) and would probably love nothing more than be sitting around lazily in their bed with her. Maybe even receiving a pleasant massage, he'd said she was very good at that before she dropped the frog down his shirt.

Those thoughts lasted all of thirty seconds before she saw Robin rushing past her at Chrom's side, missing her entirely as he did so. He didn't miss Sully though, as Lissa clearly heard her shouting "Damn it, Robin!" behind Lissa.

Having her ego deflated just that little bit further prompted Lissa to start looking for Maribelle, maybe the older girl would make her some tea and they could sit around chatting. At least there Lissa felt like she mattered, even if she did feel a tiny bit useless at times.

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Lissa's blond hair fell freely around her shoulders, bouncing about with every little shift of her head, so happy to finally be free of their bindings. She was currently lying on the bedding she shared with her husband, doing her best to read through one of his older books in an effort to at least give them something to talk about at night.

If only it wasn't so big, dry and far out of her comfort range. Also, the difficulty the text was causing her wasn't doing much for her self-confidence either.

The sound of her moving tent flaps alerted to her husband's return, his dark brown eyes connecting blearily with her own in obvious exhaustion. The tall tactician left out a barely supressed yawn as he attempted to greet her, bringing a slight blush to his cheeks as he hastily blurted out a more coherent, "Hello, Lissa."

"Hello, honey," Lissa responded with a bright smile that mirrored his tiny grin.

He eyed the tome in her hand curiously, his finger grazing its binding as he sat down next to her.

"I didn't know you had an interest in battle tactics," Robin said with a hint of disbelief that didn't sit right with Lissa.

"And what's that tone supposed to mean?" she asked testily, doing her best impression of Maribelle whenever someone had offended the haughty noble (something Lissa had a huge number of examples for).

Recognising the danger, Robin recoiled slightly and raised one of his hands submissively.

"Just that you don't seem the type," Robin admitted, letting out a sigh of relief when his wife seemed to accept his explanation.

"I'm not," Lissa admitted. Biting her lip nervously, she added, "I just figured that I had to do something to be of use."

Robin seemed confused at the statement, the little stress lines at the edge of his eyes doing that little rubbery thing that Lissa found oddly attractive as he tried to work out what she actually meant.

"But you're one of our healers. One of our few healers, I might add." Robin gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder as he said, "Honestly, you'd be harder to replace than most of the Shepards if you got hurt."

He didn't even bother raising the possibility of any of them dying, he never did. His unwillingness to consider even the slightest loss of life as anything but a failure was one the things she'd fallen in love with.

Still, the compliment rolled off her back as nothing more than empty flattery and Lissa avoided his gaze as she answered, "Yeah, right."

Obviously hearing the melancholy in her tone, Robin caught her chin between his fingers and gently turned her head so that her bright blue eyes were meeting his own. He offered her his kindest smile in what was probably a bid to help her relax but she grew restless and pulled away from his grasp, clutching the book she'd been reading to her chest (more just so she'd have something to grip than because the object itself). Her face only fell further when she spotted the worry creeping onto his face from the corner of her eye.

"Lissa, darling, is something wrong?" Robin asked awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck when she refused to answer (not trusting her voice not to break after the day's reflections).

Apparently having gathered up his courage, he gave a much more startling question.

"Did… did I do something wrong?"

Lissa's head snapped up at that, where in Naga's name did that come from.

"No, of course not. Well, there was that stupid worm but that isn't why I'm upset, I just…" Lissa trailed off, clutching the book again as if it could somehow end the awkward conversation.

"You can tell me," Robin coaxed, rubbing her shoulder encouragingly.

Lissa bit her lip lightly as she weighed up her options before sighing in defeat.

"Why did you marry me?"

"Huh?" Robin blinked, seemingly not comprehending his wife's words.

"Why did you marry me?" Lissa repeated, annoyance creeping into her words at having to repeat the uncomfortable question.

Robin's lips curved up slightly in amusement, a knowing glint in his eyes as he teasingly drawled, "Isn't this a little too obvious to work as a prank?"

Lissa balled her hands into fists as she snapped, "It's not a prank, you jerk!"

Robin slipped back when her face came closer to his, somehow managing to slam his back into the ground from his sitting position from the slip.

Gingerly massaging his lower back, Robin sat up with a look of pure confusion.

"Why are you asking that? I told you that I love you," he answered as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

And that only worsened Lissa's mood.

"That isn't good enough! Why do you love me? What's there to love…" Lissa sniffled, distraught even as she was internally mortified at her childish outburst.

Robin took this in with a serious expression, making a very notable effort to supress the twitch at the corner of his lips. Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain as a chuckle escaped his throat, causing angry tears to gather in Lissa's eyes.

"What's so funny?" she half-mumbled, her mind already racing with possibilities of what was going through her husband's head.

Robin pulled her towards him, her initial resistance quickly melting away as she was embraced against his chest, her face quickly hidden in his shirt.

Ignoring the wet splotch appearing on his clothing, Robin soothingly rubbed her back in small circles as he began speaking.

"Maribelle warned me you might be a little self-conscious of late, after threatening to castrate me for taking her precious Lissa away of course," Robin smiled when he heard Lissa give a watery giggle at the description of Maribelle's usual enthusiasm.

"There's plenty to like about you," Robin explained and gently covered her mouth when she tried to answer, silently asking to let him finish. "I'm not exactly used to this either, you know. When you think about, you're kind of my first love; even if there were ones before my amnesia I can no longer recall them."

Lissa took a moment to let that sink in and found it making far more sense than she thought it would. In some ways, she was the experienced one despite their actual ages. Her tears had dried up by this point and she was feeling slightly more confident, though she still had to ask.

"But why me? Why not Sumia or Cordelia or Sully or-" Lissa pouted when Robin cut her off with that knowing laughter of his. "I'm being serious here."

Robin's mirth settled down into a quiet giggle before finally being supressed.

"Besides the fact that their husbands probably wouldn't appreciate that, they're not really my type," Robin smirked at this and pulled Lissa towards him in such a way that the tips of their noses were just about touching. "I much prefer childish princesses who care about everyone around them like family. Especially when they're also cute blond clerics."

Lissa blushed at that, her eyes averting in abash as she said, "Geez, isn't that a little much?"

"Nope. I'm head over heels for you, and since the war is over and the fraternisation restrictions are lifted, I'm going to prove it to you."

Lissa's face could have been used to cook bear meat at that point, the embarrassing heat reaching from ear-to-ear and every point in between.

"What (gulp) do you mean by that?" Lissa asked, jumping and letting out a quiet shriek when she felt Robin's fingers running along the strings of her nightshirt.

"We're husband and wife but we haven't… been intimate like that. It's no wonder you're so self-conscious, even though you're easily the most beautiful woman in camp," Robin flattered as his lips kissed against the nape of her neck.

Robin smirked when she gave a pleased moan at his ministrations, "Still think I'm thinking about other women."

Lissa shook her head to answer before trailing her dainty fingers through his short black hair, pushing him further against her skin. Robin all too happily followed her efforts.

By the time they were finished, Lissa was lying atop Robin's naked chest like a contented house cat.

Robin's hand threaded through her long blond hair, his heart beating softly beneath his chest as they lounged in the afterglow.

"I really do adore you," Robin said after a moment of silence, a little bit of guilt creeping into Lissa at those words.

"I know, sorry," Lissa mumbled. "I'm really happy we wound up together."

Robin kissed the top of her head affectionately before pausing for a moment and reaching over the top of the bed to pick up the tome that been knocked from the bed during their fun.

"So, still think you'll be reading this at bedtime?" Robin asked curiously.

"No, it really isn't my thing," Lissa admitted sleepily. "I suppose I'll have to find something else we have in common."

Robin's hand slid to her lower back as he continued his loving caress, saying simply, "Well, we have all the time in the world."

Lissa's lips curled up happily as she replied, "Yes, we do."

Still, one last thought crept into her mind that she couldn't quite censor from her mouth.

"How come you noticed Sully more than me earlier?"

Robin coughed in embarrassment as Lissa's eyes shifted upwards to meet his.

Robin sighed before answering, "I didn't… I was talking to Chrom and well…"

"Well what?"

"I didn't see her until I bumped into her and knocked her weapons out of her hands."

Lissa couldn't hold back her laughter as her husband looked down upon her, his cheeks flaring red at the admission of the silly moment.

**Author's Note: Originally I was planning to have a calling out of Lissa from the other side. Despite it being no real reflection on Robin in the story (more so being an exploration of Lissa's occasional confidence issues), I can't imagine the accusation that you should be running off with other women would sit too well with someone. I mean, think of all the possible implications (I already know you're going to cheat/ are cheating, can we just hurry up and end this relationship, etc., etc.).**

**That obviously didn't happen though and I think I prefer this version. As usual, review as pleasantly or as causticly as you can, just keep it constructive if possible.**


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